How do we make this year our best yet? First, we need to look at what we’re doing and how to do it better. Then we need to prioritize what we’re doing so we don’t get consumed with things that may clamor loudly but are not the most important.

      As Christians, we are supposed to carry our cross every day. We are called to die daily to our selfish desires so we can live for Christ. This helps us live the abundant life He calls us to have. How does dying daily lead to the abundant life? If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, wouldn’t today be filled with only the most important things in your life? What if we lived like that every day? Disciples do.

      One of the things we should do on the first of each year is evaluate and rid ourselves of the unimportant things consuming our time, energy, and resources and devote them to the Lord. Taking whatever time is currently being wasted frivolously and giving it to the Lord can radically change our lives. As we do this, we will find ways to give Him more.

      Growing in love for God and one another are two of the most important things we’re called to do in this life. These two things will determine if we have had a successful life or not. How do we grow in love for God? Because God is love, I don’t think you can see Him or anything about Him that will not cause you to love Him more. If we take a half hour each day that may usually be spent watching television and use it to study the Lord’s ways, we will grow to love Him more. This will also start a momentum for Him to use us to spread His love. Every time He uses us, it is a revelation of Him, and we grow in love for Him still more.

      The Book of Revelation was given as “a revelation of Jesus Christ”—that He, Jesus, was given to give to His bondservants. This is the only book in the Bible that promises us a blessing just for reading it. In 2016, our Word for the Week will include a study of the Book of Revelation.

      This book that scares so many is actually easy to understand, since it is a revelation, or “a revealing,” not “a hiding.” If you have the keys given to us in the beginning of the revelation, it is like unlocking the most wonderful doors you have ever gone through. It is time to understand this revelation; it will draw us closer to the Lord. I have been reading it over and over, as well as doing an in-depth study, and it has been like opening the mineshaft to the mother lode of revelation. It is time, and I think that as we get into this study, it could become one of your favorite books of the Bible.